The Court of Justice of the European Union concluded that the European Commission has the legitimacy to impose the package of measures that in 2007 obliged all mobile operators in the European Union to review their roaming prices and to create a new tariff with defined maximum prices.
The EC’s legitimacy to impose the Eurotariff, as it became known, was questioned by four European giants: Vodafone, Telefónica O2, T-Mobile and Orange.
The companies asked the court to analyze the EC’s competence to decide in this matter and to know if the Community principles were not called into question by the measures.
It should be recalled that the European decision to establish ceilings for roaming it was taken after some attempts by the EC to have operators proactively take steps to harmonize prices and put an end to the huge divergences practiced in the different countries of the region.
The price harmonization plan was defined over a three-year time horizon, with new mandatory price caps to be introduced in the summer of 2007, 2008 and 2009.
The European Court was called upon to give an opinion on the matter in the context of the case presented by the operators to British justice.
The reasoned opinion, which supported the EC, is published today, supporting a position that eliminates the scope for new questions on the subject.
